Family Protection
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: Sequel to "A Light in the Dark". Olivia Benson is visiting with Hank Voight when his daughter-in-law and grandson return for the first time since Justin's murder. Voight's determined to put his family back together, but some uninvited guests might change that.
1. Chapter 1

Family Protection

Olivia woke up in her apartment. It was dark, she couldn't see anything except for the furniture immediately illuminated from the street lamps shining through a gap in the window blinds. She picked up the clock and saw it was 2:30, she didn't even remember falling asleep, nor did she remember what it was that woke her up. Somewhere, she wasn't sure where, she heard a muffled sound like somebody walking around.

"Who's there?" she called as she reached for her gun on the nightstand. She sprang to her feet and crept to the bedroom door, trying to hear anything that would give her an answer.

The footsteps came closer, they were in her apartment. Olivia stepped towards the door, her heart climbing into her throat, she got ready to shoot.

"Who is it?" she called again.

Now it sounded like the footsteps were pounding on the floor above her. The noise got louder, and louder, until Olivia was covering her ears trying to block it out. Then suddenly, the door burst open. Olivia raised her gun and waited, but nobody came in. She inched over to the doorway and looked out into her apartment. Nobody was there.

Olivia felt her heart racing in her chest and she took in a deep breath, trying to calm down.

You're losing it, Benson, she told herself, you're really losing it.

Olivia closed her door, locked it, put her gun back on the nightstand and got back into bed and pulled the covers up. She turned on one side trying to get comfortable, then the other, it didn't work. She opened her eyes to turn over again, and her eyes widened as the light from outside shone in on the disembodied head on the next pillow, and she recognized it as Hank Voight's.

"AH!" Olivia shot up in bed and opened her eyes.

The lights were on, it was just a dream. She flopped back down on her side in a facsimile of the fetal position and hugged the pillow under her head with both arms, and realized that she wasn't in her own bed.

"What's wrong?" a gruff voice behind her asked.

Olivia turned over and saw Hank Voight sitting up on the other side of the bed, a couple pillows propped behind his head, one leg crossed over the other.

Olivia let out a strained breath and answered, "Nothing, just a nightmare." She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror over the dresser, her hair was wild from sleep and she was still wearing the gray T-shirt and black sweatpants she'd worn all day around the house. She almost laughed, Hank was dressed for the night in a black T-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants.

"Want to talk about it?" Voight asked.

Olivia laughed bitterly, " _No_."

"Want a drink?" he offered.

Olivia didn't know what time it was but she shook her head, "Too late."

"Want some coffee?" Hank asked.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Quarter to three."

She shook her head again, "Too early, if I drink that I'll never get back to sleep."

"Sleep's overrated," Voight replied.

Already the dream seemed so far away, so vague, and yet Olivia could still distinctly remember it, and she took in a heavy breath.

"Get over here," Voight told her.

Olivia rose on her knees and crawled over to the other side of the bed and lay down beside him, he put his arm around her and pulled her against him.

"Why're _you_ up?" she suddenly wondered.

"Thinking," he said.

She looked at him. "What about?"

He looked at her and asked, "You starting to regret this arrangement?"

By which Olivia knew Voight was referring to their relationship, which at best could be described as a platonic romance. She still remembered when the issue first came up.

 _"I'm sorry," he told her, "I love you, Olivia. Probably more than you'll ever be able to realize. But I don't see this working out." He raised his hand to get her attention, he wanted to make sure she understood, "The reason why isn't anything to do with you, it's not your fault, it's mine. I love you, Olivia, but I_ _can't_ _sleep with you. I haven't been with any woman since Camille, even now it would feel like I was being unfaithful to her. Even if I thought I_ _could_ _live with the guilt anyway, I_ _wouldn't_ _be able to do it. If that won't be enough, then we need to just leave this where it is and forget about it."_

 _Olivia reached up, put her arms around Voight and pulled him against her, "It's enough, Hank…it's enough."_

 _"Look, I'm not going to hold you to anything. When you're back in New York…" the words weren't coming easy for him but he made his point all the same, "It's not realistic to expect a woman in the prime of her life to give all that up."_

 _"Hank," Olivia shook her head confusedly, "You really think I'd break up with you because we can't have sex?"_

 _"I wouldn't blame you if you did," he answered, "Be honest, Olivia, how long do you see this lasting? Long distance relationships are hard enough to pull off as is."_

 _"I don't care about that, Hank," she told him, "I don't care if we never sleep together."_

 _"That's easy to say now," he pointed out, "What about a month from now? Three months? Six? A year? How far do you see a platonic romance lasting?"_

 _Olivia was almost laughing, and she told him, "You couldn't pick a better candidate to say that to."_

 _"I don't know where this is going to go, Olivia," he told her, "But I'm willing to give it a shot if you are."_

Three months later and not much had changed. Voight had been out to New York twice to see Olivia, and wound up staying the weekend at her apartment. Twice Olivia had come out to Chicago and stayed with him. In that time, their relationship hadn't taken on a physical aspect though they always wound up in each other's bed, but they'd practically become each other's lifelines. They called each other almost every day, mostly to talk about nothing, just to know the other was there. They both seemed content with the way things were, but Olivia knew Hank still doubted how long she'd be willing to put up with it.

"No," she answered, "Absolutely not."

"Would you tell me if you were?" he asked.

Olivia snorted. "If I wasn't here with you right now, I'd be alone in my own bed in my apartment 1,000 miles away, no thanks."

"A pretty girl like you, you wouldn't have any trouble finding someone to spend the night with," Voight said.

"Sure I would, I have standards," she replied.

"Then what're you doing with me?" he asked.

Olivia smirked and playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"That's not what's got you up," she said, "What is it?"

"Did I tell you Olive's coming to visit, bringing my grandson back for me to see?"

Olivia picked her head up. "No you didn't, when's she coming?"

"Tomorrow night," Hank answered.

"That's great, Hank."

"I hope," he said, his eyes looking to the side, "I haven't seen them in three months, I thought I'd never see them again at all. It's taken this long just for her to feel safe about coming back to visit. Nothing can go wrong tomorrow, I don't want to take the chance of her storming off again and I don't see them."

Olivia rubbed his shoulder and responded, "I'm sure everything will be fine, Hank. Is there anything I can do?"

His eyes looked at her, and he answered simply, "Stay."

"What?"

"Stay here tomorrow night," Voight told her, "I need you here if things go south. If anything happens, and I wind up alone again, I need _somebody_ here."

Olivia remembered what it had been like when she came out there three months ago right after Justin had died and Olive left with the baby. Voight drank until he was in a rage and smashed all the lights, and by the time Olivia got there, he seemed to be keying up for the next round.

"Yes," she said, "I'll be here." She dreaded to think of the alternative if anything would happen the next night.

Voight grabbed her hand with his and squeezed it tight. "Thanks, I sure appreciate it."

Olivia reached over with her free hand and stroked over his short hair and told him, "Everything's going to be fine, Hank, trust me."

"I hope so," he said, and she could see a trace of fear in his eyes as he told her, "I can't lose what's left of my family. Not again."


	2. Chapter 2

"So Olive's just driving in from the airport?" Olivia asked as she helped Voight get the kitchen table set for dinner.

"I told her I'd pick her up," he said, "but she said she'd meet us here."

"How're you holding up?" she asked. She'd been with Hank all day getting things ready, overall he seemed to be taking it very well, but she knew under that calm, cool exterior, there was more.

Damned if he was going to let her know that though. "I'm fine, Olivia," he insisted.

She glanced down once and saw the white knuckled grip he had on the chair. She said nothing, but reached over and rubbed his shoulder assuredly. "Everything's going to be alright, Hank."

He looked at her and forced the smallest hint of a smile. "I really appreciate you being here, Liv. I wish I could talk Olive into moving back here but she won't have it, I'm lucky we're getting this far."

She smiled at him and said in a slight whisper, "It's going to be fine." And she leaned over and kissed him over his eye.

"Mm," Voight grunted, "I could get used to that."

Olivia laughed.

The doorbell rang.

"That's them," Voight said as he went to answer it.

Olivia followed him and watched as the door opened on a young woman with curly hair and a little boy with dark brown hair with a pacifier in his mouth, holding his mom's hand.

"Hi Hank," Olive said.

"Good to see you, Olive," Voight smiled at her, then looked down and asked, "Who's this big guy?" He knelt down and picked his grandson up. "Oh my God, he's grown."

"I know," his daughter-in-law said, "It's hard to believe he's almost a year and a half old now."

"Olive," Hank turned to reveal the woman standing behind him, "This is Olivia Benson, she's a sergeant with Special Victims in Manhattan."

"Nice to meet you," Olivia said.

"Hello, Olivia."

"Well, shall we move this to the living room?" Olivia asked.

Olive picked up her bags and followed them inside. Hank carried his grandson into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Hey big man, long time no see." He bent his head down and kissed Daniel on the crown of his head. "I missed you, did you miss me?"

Olive giggled and said, "You just talked to him on Skype two nights ago, Hank."

"Yeah," he looked at his daughter-in-law, "But how do I know that he knows it's me? How do I know that he doesn't think I'm just a video game hologram on there?"

The women laughed as they sat down next to the couch.

"So Olive, how long are you going to be staying?" Olivia asked.

"Just for a couple days," the blonde woman answered. "So, Olivia…how did you two…meet?"

"On the job," she answered, "We had a couple cases where the perp attacked their victims in both Chicago and New York, so Hank and his crew had to come up to Manhattan and help us on one and we had to come here to help him with the other."

"Leave it to you, Hank," Olive said, "to meet a woman during the job."

Hank merely shrugged and replied, "Dumb luck."

"Well," Olivia commented, "Shall we eat?"

"Sounds good," Olive said as they stood up, "It's been a long day."

"Who're you telling?" Voight murmured under his breath as he carried Daniel into the kitchen.

* * *

Dinner was uneventful except for the conversation. There was a lot to be caught up on after all the time Olive and the baby had been gone. There was also a lot for Olivia to add to the conversation from her own side of things, what it had been like working with Hank, what it was like for a lifelong New Yorker to visit the Windy City, and a small insight to her own life back home.

After dinner, Olivia helped Hank clear the table as Olive decided to get Daniel settled down, but the toddler was fussy when she tried picking him up.

"Hey, what's that noise over there?" Voight asked.

"It's been a long day for him," Olive said as she tried to get him to calm down, "He had a big time flying on the airplane."

"Let me see him," Voight went over and took the boy from his mother, "Hey you, what's all the noise about? Hm? What's your major malfunction?"

For whatever reason, the child started to calm down, and the two women looked at each other and exchanged small knowing smirks.

"I'll be back in a minute," Voight said as he carried his grandson out to the living room.

Olivia waited until Hank was out of earshot, and said to Olive, "He's a beautiful baby."

"He has his father's eyes," she said, "he looks _so_ much like his father."

Olivia turned to the younger woman and told her, "I never met Justin, Hank's told me a lot about him. I can't imagine what this has been like for you."

Olive slowly nodded, "It's been hard. I keep thinking, when my son's older and he asks about his father, what am I going to tell him?"

"Whatever it is, he'll be able to handle it," Olivia told her, "it'll be easier to have Hank help with that. I wish I'd been able to know my grandparents growing up. It might've shed some light on a lot of things."

Olive looked at her curiously, "What do you mean?"

Olivia answered, "It was just my mom and I growing up, my dad was some random stranger who raped my mom, he was never caught, I never knew his side of the family, and my mother became an abusive drunk after her attack, and she usually took it out on me. I have spent many years questioning the theory of genetics. That's why I decided to work Special Victims, to help people like my mother, so certain cycles don't have to repeat themselves."

"Oh my God," Olive looked horrified, "I had no idea."

"It hasn't been an easy subject to open up about," Olivia nodded. "I finally got around to telling Hank a few months ago over a round of drinks."

There was an awkward pause between them before Olive changed the subject and said, "So you and Hank are…"

Olivia let out a small laugh and replied, "Not exactly."

"Oh," Olive said, "I thought…"

"Not for lack of trying," Olivia said, "I'd be willing, but Hank's conscience won't allow it. So, for the time being anyway, we're just friends." She let out a small laugh and said, "He's a hell of a guy."

"So I noticed," Olive replied.

"When he and his crew first came to New York to work with us, I wasn't too hot on the idea, he and I have different ideas how to work a case," Olivia explained, "but, I guess he grew on me. Then he and I had to go undercover to find Erin's brother, Teddy, got a different view of him that way. I…came out to see Hank after…everything that had happened. He was in a…" she tried to find the right word, "very _dark_ place. Maybe if I'd come sooner, things would've been different."

Olive looked at her, "What do you mean?"

Olivia answered, "Around the time that Justin was killed, I lost one of my men in SVU. He was the Chief's son, his dad always had a beef with our unit and didn't want him there to begin with. He was always pushing for his son to transfer out, go to counter-terrorism, joint task force, get the hell away from SVU, we were nothing but a step down for him. He'd just transferred, it was his last day, and we had a case with a CO who was raping the women in the prison, even once they were out on parole, he would threaten to bust them if they didn't sleep with him. We went to war with him and his department, and we went to help his wife get her kids out, and he took out a gun and it was a hostage situation. I walked the kids out to the car, and Dodds stayed in the house with the CO, Munson…and Munson shot him. The bullet hit an artery, he lost a lot of blood, he was in surgery, it looked like he was going to be alright, then…something went wrong. His father ordered more tests, and by the time they found out what was wrong, he was already brain dead and hooked up to a ventilator. His father had the machine turned off, and he died. I said a thousand times, _I_ should've stayed in the house, I should've had him walk the kids out, things would've been different. The Chief was able to stand the sight of me for a while, but time passed and he started to feel the exact same way I did, it was my fault, _I_ got his son killed."

"Oh my God, Olivia," Olive said, "you can't blame yourself for that."

"Sure I can, it's easy, I was his sergeant, I made the call, I gave him the order," Olivia said, "And because of me, a father lost his son. That's the worst feeling in the world to be responsible for such a thing. After the funeral and things started to calm down, I heard about Justin and…I didn't come right away, it was still too fresh, hit too close to home for me. By the time I got out here, Voight was…a mess. He threatened to throw me out. It was a bad time."

"What happened?" Olive asked.

"I left," Olivia answered, "I got in a car crash, I woke up in the hospital and he was there waiting. That's when he started to act human again. I think after losing everyone else in his life, he just needed someone around to care about."

Olive took in what Olivia was saying though it looked like her attention was drawn elsewhere.

"When Justin died, my whole world fell away," she explained, "Everywhere I looked, all I saw was him, or why he got killed. I couldn't stay any longer, I had to get out for my sake and my son's. I thought I was doing the right thing. Once I'd been at my sister's a few days, I started thinking…what it must be like from Hank's side. I lost my husband, he lost his _son_ , it would be like…like if I lost Daniel…" Olive shook her head. "The more I thought about it, the worse I started to feel for Hank. Daniel's his last connection to Justin too. After a while I was horrified by the way I acted, storming out on Hank with no warning, moving halfway across the country, I feel terrible about it."

"I wouldn't worry," Olivia told the young mother, "Hank understands how hard it was for you to cope with Justin's death. He's just thrilled you came to visit now."

It was then that both women realized that there was nothing coming from the next room but total silence, and they went to see what happened.

The two women poked their heads in the living room and saw Voight on the couch holding his grandson against his chest, and both of them were sound asleep. Olive and Olivia managed to stifle their laughter until they returned to the kitchen.

"I can definitely see the family resemblance," Olivia said.

"Hank's been trying to talk me into moving back to Chicago," Olive said and shook her head. "I just can't."

Olivia nodded. "I can understand that."

"I want my son to know his grandfather, to know about his dad…but I don't want to spend every day looking over my shoulder, wondering who else is going to come after us to get to Hank?"

"Oh believe me, I get that too," Olivia said. "I've had criminals I helped put away, get out and come after me more times than I like to remember…doesn't make you feel like running out and starting a family anytime soon." She looked towards the other room and added, "Maybe that's why I liked the idea of starting a relationship with Hank, a thousand miles is too far for most crooks to go for a vendetta."

Olive laughed in response.

* * *

It was late. Everybody had had a nice visit, spent several hours talking and getting caught up on what was going on in each other's lives. Olive had put the baby to bed hours ago, and finally joined him herself a couple hours ago. At the same time Olivia and Hank decided to turn in, but they hadn't gone to sleep yet.

The two of them lay alongside each other in the dark, listening to the distant sounds of dogs barking somewhere outside and the occasional sound of traffic going by. The red digits on the clock read 1:53 A.M.

"You asleep yet?" Voight asked quietly.

"No, you?" Olivia replied.

Voight grunted, then added, "I still can't believe they're finally here."

"And nothing has gone wrong," Olivia reminded him.

Voight stared up to the ceiling even though everything was mostly pitch black. "I just can't stand the thought of them going back to Arizona and I won't see them for months again."

"You can still Skype with them."

"It's not the same."

"I know," Olivia replied, "but it's something."

"True," Voight reluctantly responded. Then he asked, "What do you think of her?"

"Olive's a very nice young woman," Olivia said. "I can see why Justin was in love with her. Her son's adorable."

Voight grunted something in agreement.

"I told you it would all work out, "Hank," she said.

"Once in a while I'm wrong, in a bluer moon sometimes I'm glad I'm wrong," he replied. He reached over, found her hand and squeezed it. "I'm glad you were here for it."

She smiled at him and responded, "So am I."

Outside the noise of the dogs barking got louder and it got both sergeants' attention. They jumped out of the bed and ran to the window. Voight pulled back the blind and down below they could see both sides of the street were filled with black parked cars.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

Voight shook his head, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

"I'm going with you," she said before he had time to argue.

They quickly got dressed, Olivia grabbed her gun she'd brought with her, Voight grabbed his sidearm and his shotgun, and they headed to the door.

Out in the hall they ran into Olive, who had Daniel in her arms and was near hysterics as she asked, "Hank, _what_ is going on?"

"We're going to find out," Voight told her and maneuvered her into the bedroom. "You just stay here and keep quiet, you understand? Not a word."

Voight closed the door and Olive heard their footsteps as they made their way down the stairs. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she held her son, who thankfully was more asleep than not and didn't stir, closer to her as she silently prayed. She heard the back door in the kitchen close, then the only sound she could hear through the window was the dogs barking. Other than the dogs, everything was still for several very tense moments that felt like an eternity, then Olive's heart jumped in her throat as she heard a brief struggle from outside, and then there was nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

In all the years Olivia worked for SVU she had learned to master the fine art of keeping her cool in all kinds of volatile situations, hostile victims and witnesses, hostage situations, death threats, the works. So she fell back on all those past experiences as she kept her voice neutral but calm, held her hands in front of her in a non-aggressive manner, and said slowly, emphasizing every word, "Voight, calm down…and take your hands off Jay's throat."

Hank had Halstead on his knees in the grass and his hands locked in a death grip around the younger cop's neck, and his eyes burned with fury as he looked at Jay, as if he were trying to bore holes in his skull just by glaring at him. Jay weakly had his hands on Voight's trying to pull them off as he choked and coughed. Voight and Olivia had crept around from the backyard to size up the threat, and all they'd seen was one man standing in the yard, and Voight had clocked him before discovering it was Halstead, once he actually knew it he especially flew into a rage and seemed intent on murdering the younger man.

"Hank," Olivia said again, "take, your hands, off, and let him breathe."

Voight tightened his grip even harder for a couple seconds, then finally released Jay's neck. Halstead all but fell on his face as the momentum shifted without Voight's death grip to hold him up. He sucked in a couple of gasping, wheezing breaths and got to his feet, and tried to talk but all he got out was a faint, "Sarge" before he heard a sharp sound cut through the air and felt one whole side of his face burning.

"You little shit!" Voight screamed at his detective after he bitch slapped Jay, "What the hell do you think you're doing, you little prick?"

"Sergeant, I…" Jay tried again to speak, but found himself being simultaneously strangled and throttled by his boss.

"You come out here in the middle of the night trying to scare everybody half to death, what the _hell_ did you think you were doing?" Voight continued to berate the younger cop. "Do you realize what you've put me through tonight? Put my whole family through!"

"Voight, listen…" Jay weakly muttered as Hank let go of his neck again.

"Hank, calm down," Olivia said as she reached over and touched his arm.

Instead, Voight yelled loud enough for people in Glenview to hear, "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! My daughter-in-law and grandson are in that house, scared to death that somebody was here to kill them." He turned back to Halstead and continued, "Do you have any idea what I had to go through just to get them back here for a visit? And now you're going to send them running back to Arizona and I never see my grandson again, do you have _any_ idea how much that thought scares the hell out of me? They're all the family I have left and I'm not about to let anything happen to them, do you get that? You piece of shit, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Jay took a few ragged breaths and waited to see if he would be allowed to speak this time. He looked at Voight, and at Olivia, and finally raised his arm and said into the cuff of his sleeve, "Okay guys, the jig's up. Lights."

Hank and Olivia were immediately blinded by what felt like a thousand beams of light. Shielding their eyes they saw it was the headlights of every car parked out in the street turning on, the doors opened and people started getting out of their cars. The two sergeants stayed where they were to see what was unfolding. At first the occupants of the cars were hidden behind the headlights, then they can around and Voight was able to make out the people standing in the street.

Erin.

Al.

Trudy.

Antonio.

Atwater.

Ruzek.

Burgess.

And over by the other cars Voight could see it was Trudy's husband, Randy, also Christopher Herrmann, Joe Cruz, Brian Zvonecek, Matt Casey and Gabby Dawson, and Wallace Boden.

"What the hell is this?" Voight asked, suddenly not feeling sure of anything.

Halstead inhaled and exhaled raggedly a few more times, then explained, "Well since we all knew that Olive was coming to visit, we reached a unanimous decision to work neighborhood watch, _this_ neighborhood."

"What?" Hank was dumbfounded.

"We decided not to take any chances, and stand guard tonight," Halstead answered. "That way if anybody came here looking to start something, _we_ were going to finish it."

"Come on, Hank," Erin said as she folded her arms, "you can't really say you're surprised. We all know how important this is to you."

Voight looked around at his people, and saw the solemn looks on their faces that said they came tonight ready to stand their ground. He turned to his desk sergeant and couldn't think of anything to say except, "Trudy?"

"What can I say, Hank?" she shrugged, "we're family, a very unconventional, dysfunctional family, but we're family…"

Mouch cleared his throat and offered his own two cents, "That includes in-laws."

Voight turned and now faced the members of Firehouse 51. "Chief?"

Boden had his usual no-nonsense look on his face as he told Hank, "We have our differences on our jobs, but I know how important family is, and how vital it is to keep them safe."

Hank and Olivia's attention was turned to the sound of somebody sobbing. They turned and saw Olive standing at the front door with Daniel clutched against her.

Olivia was the first one to make a move. She walked up to the porch and gestured back to the crowd in the street.

"Do you see this, Olive?" she asked, "This is the family you married into, this is the family your son's going to know when he grows up." She looked back at the cops and firefighters and added, "Look at everybody who came here tonight to keep you two safe."

Olive was near hysterics and about doubled over, Olivia supported her to stay on her feet. Voight came up on the porch and took his grandson.

"Hey, little man," he said as he turned towards the street, "come here, I got some people who want to meet you."

Of course the people from his house already knew his grandson, and that didn't stop any of them from fussing over him, especially Erin. Firehouse 51 on the other hand had not yet had the privilege; Gabby gushed over how adorable he was, Herrmann having five kids under his own belt took Daniel from Voight with the finesse of a well experienced father and decided to impart some of his points of wisdom on the child. Cruz, Otis and Mouch all made a bunch of ridiculous faces and gibberish noises, as might've been more common when interacting with a newborn. Wallace took the toddler from Voight and looked the small boy in his tired eyes and told him, "Hey little dude, welcome to the family..." he looked at the others and added, "A large, and very unusual family," that garnered a few laughs from the others, "but one that'll have your back for the rest of your life. You can count on it."

* * *

"I wish you could stay longer," Voight said as he and Olivia helped Olive get ready to head back to the airport.

"I do too, Hank," she told him. "It's been a great visit." She went over to the Intelligence sergeant and hugged him. "I'm glad that Daniel is going to know his family."

"Come back soon, alright?" Voight asked. "I don't want to wake up one day and he's already graduating high school."

"I will, when I get the chance," Olive said. "I promise."

Voight picked up his grandson and hugged him one last time and murmured into his ear, "Don't make trouble for your poor mother, you got that?" To actually get a response, he tickled the boy, causing him to giggle over his pacifier. Voight looked him in the eyes and kissed him on the forehead. "Be good, little man, I'll see you soon. I love you."

Olive and Olivia hugged and said their goodbyes, Olivia asked, "Are you sure you don't want us to go with you to the airport?"

"No, we'll be fine," Olive answered, and told Hank, "And I'll call you when we get home."

"I look forward to it," he replied.

They all said another round of goodbyes, and then Olive was out the door with Daniel, and it was just Hank and Olivia again.

"Well, I'd say that went well," she said.

"Mm-hmm," Voight grunted as he pressed his back against the door.

"Did you apologize to Jay for trying to kill him?" Olivia asked.

"Mm-mm," Voight shook his head.

Olivia smirked at him knowingly, "Are you _going_ to?"

"One of these decades," Hank answered. "He should've told me."

"You okay?" she asked.

Voight nodded and headed to the living room. Olivia followed him and sat down on the couch beside him. She looked at him and could see despite his rock hard exterior, that his eyes were shining with tears that had just formed.

"I've missed them so much," he said.

Olivia pulled him to her and hugged him. She could just imagine how many memories had to have come flooding back to the last time Voight saw his daughter-in-law and grandson, right after his son's murder.

She could feel Voight's heart beating against her chest, felt as well as heard him breathe heavily a couple times.

"Thank you," he told her. "Thank you for being here, you don't know what it meant to me."

"I know what it meant to me," Olivia said quietly. She had never told Hank about Dodds, didn't want to stir up any more memories of that dark chapter in both their lives. It had been nice to be able to confide in somebody outside of her unit about what had happened, all her guilt and her doubts. It dawned on her that that must've been what it was like for Voight to open up to her about Justin's murder.

Voight pulled back from Olivia and kissed her, once on the cheek, once on the forehead, and once on the lips.

"I love you," he told her.

She smiled at him and said, "I love you too."

* * *

That night Olivia and Hank lay in bed alongside each other. They'd had a couple glasses of wine with dinner and a couple more after dinner and now were content to do nothing until the next morning.

"So you'll be going back tomorrow?" Voight asked.

Olivia sighed, "Yep. These weekends never last long enough."

"Ain't it the truth."

Voight turned on his side and leaned over and kissed her. This was usually as far as physical intimacy got between them, Voight's conscience always got the better of him and made sure things couldn't go any further.

And like clockwork...Hank pulled back and looked at her.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I wish it could go further than this, but I just can't."

"It's alright, Hank, I understand," Olivia told him. She pushed up on her elbow and sat up against the pillows and said to him, "But I can't help wondering something. When you and Camille were married, did you two discuss what to do if something happened to one of you?"

"Oh yeah," Voight said, "any relationship with a cop always has that discussion, as you know there are a thousand ways that you can buy it on the job."

"What did you two decide?" Olivia asked.

"I told her if anything happened to me, to find somebody who treated her right and remarry, help her raise Justin," Hank answered.

Olivia nodded, and waited a moment, before asking, "And you didn't see that as her being unfaithful to you?"

"Hell no," Voight responded, "I knew if I died on the job, she'd need somebody to help her wrangle that boy into adulthood."

"And what did Camille want for you?" Olivia asked.

"The same thing she said when we found out her cancer had spread," Voight bent his knees and stared down at the comforter. "She said find someone who made me happy." He laughed, "She even had someone picked out."

"Who?"

Voight shook his head. "You don't want to know. In all fairness, I told her if I died, and Alvin Olinsky ever left his wife, that she should marry him, if she could deal with me, Al'd be a breeze."

"So?" Olivia probed.

Voight shook his head and looked off to the side. "It's different, don't ask me why it is, it just is."

Olivia smiled at him and reached her hand over to his and told him, "I understand."

He looked at her, and told her, "That's what I love about you. Look, I can't promise anything, and anytime you want to call this off, I understand."

"Hank."

"Let me finish...maybe sometime when one of us is visiting the other, maybe I'll be able to test the limits of my conscience, and we could see if something happens...just not now."

She nodded, "That's fine, anything you're comfortable with, that's what we'll do."

Voight grunted and said, "I thought that's usually the man's line in a relationship."

Olivia laughed.

* * *

"Olivia, you awake?"

She wasn't until that point, even now she couldn't quite get her eyes open. She rolled on her side and asked Voight, "What time is it?"

"3 o' clock."

"Ugh," Olivia grabbed the pillow behind her and buried her head under it.

"Olivia, wake up, I want to tell you something," Voight said.

"What?" she asked as she threw the pillow aside and forced her eyes open.

Voight was wide awake, and sitting up on his side of the bed again. He looked at her and said, "The next time you got some vacation days coming, why don't you come on out and spend them with me?"

Olivia closed her eyes again and turned on her side, "Two weeks in this bed with you? Sounds like fun."

"Who said anything about here?" Voight asked. "Will you wake up? I'm serious about this."

Olivia forced her eyes open again and asked, "What is it?"

He looked at her and asked, "Did I ever tell you about my condo in Myrtle Beach?"

Olivia blinked and looked at him like he was nuts. "I thought that was just part of your dirty cop cover."

"The actual condo I used at the time, yeah, but I got my own place out there," Voight explained. "Two weeks on the beach, lot of sun, no neighbors, be a nice change of pace from the three feet of snow either of us gets buried under."

"Mmm, sounds nice," Olivia said as she laid back down, "does it have a bed?"

"Yes."

"As nice as this one?"

Voight smirked. "Better."

"Hmm, sounds great," she said as she closed her eyes again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Olivia."

She felt the presence of Voight hovering over her and felt him kiss her on the forehead, and heard his raspy voice, "Love you."

"Love you too," she said, and she was out like a light.

* * *

Voight pulled his car up in front of the airport. "Well, here we are."

"Thanks for the ride," Olivia said as she grabbed her travel bag.

"Don't mention it," he replied.

"I'll call you when I get home," she said.

"Uh huh."

"And let me know when it'll be a good time to pack for Myrtle Beach," Olivia added.

"You have a swimming suit?" Voight asked.

His question caught Olivia off guard and she laughed awkwardly, "Uh, it's been a long time since I've had any use for one of those."

"Get one," he told her. "You'll be needing it."

Olivia laughed again and said uncertainly, "Okay."

"I'll miss you," he said with a smile.

She returned the smile, "I'll miss you too." Reaching over the gear shift that divided the seats, Olivia leaned over and hugged him. Turning sideways in his seat, Voight put his arm around Olivia and kissed her. After a few seconds, they pulled away, exchanged goodbyes, and Olivia got out of the car. Voight watched her go, then after a few seconds, he got out on his side of the car as well, and walked over to the sidewalk.

"You spying on me?" he asked the man reading a newspaper ten feet behind him.

"No sir," Antonio lowered the paper, "just making sure there weren't any complications."

Voight looked at him like he was deciding if Dawson was telling the truth or not, and he responded, "So help me, you breathe one word of what you saw..."

"I know, I know," Antonio raised his hand, "you're gonna cut my tongue out and ram it down my throat."

"Don't think I won't," Voight pointed a menacing finger at him.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Voight, have a nice day," Antonio turned to walk away.

"By the way, Antonio," Voight called after him, "If you see Halstead, tell him I apologize."

"Apology accepted, Sergeant," Jay came up from between two parked cars.

Voight looked at Halstead, who today was wearing a turtleneck to hide the telltale hand prints left on his throat, and shook his head. "Who else is here?"

"Just extending that protection detail," Halstead explained, "we saw Olive off yesterday."

"Did she know?" Voight asked.

"Hell yeah," Antonio answered, and pointed towards Jay, "we learn from our mistakes."

Voight chuckled. Then he pointed at Jay and told him, "And don't think that tongue thing doesn't apply to you too."

In response, Jay gave the age old zipped lip gesture.

"You alright, Hank?" Antonio asked.

Voight looked at him, and actually seemed to consider the question for a minute, before responding, "Yeah, I think so."


End file.
